Jumping Through Time
by Rin-Rin Yu Die
Summary: With the discovery of her ability to control time, mistakes would be impossible for Kagome to avoid. The first mistake, and maybe her last, sent her and Sesshōmaru spiraling through time, separating them. Honor bound, she must find him. Of course, that is if she can survive the cruelty of the past and the bleakness that sets in when home is eons away.
1. Hole in Time

**Written for CiaraFael's Songs of the Decades Challenge. The song for this chapter was The Man I Love by Marion Harris. Which I don't own. **

The maroon silk wrapped tightly around her shoulders felt nice as she walked down the creaky wooden steps. Down stairs, she heard the sound of her roommates, a girl in her mid-twenties and her husband who was in his late forties, squabbling over something. She assumed it was her they were fighting about not because she had an ego the size of Mt Fuji but because they always argued over her.

She was a paying tenant in their home, and nice one at that, but she was… peculiar. First off, her name was Kagome, she lived in San Francisco, her eyes blue unlike the trademark brown of Asian residents, and she spoke near perfect English. Secondly, she always managed to come up with money even though she had no job that they knew of. Lastly, her behavior was quite out of the ordinary. In their opinion, she could be crude, unfunny, slow, rude, and all around disgusting though she wasn't all the time. She tried to leave her futuristic ideas and customs for when she finally returned to the future, Kagome let them slip through into her everyday life in 1920's San Francisco.

"Winton? Pearle? You're very loud." Kagome said from the bottom step, trying to keep the accent from her voice. They probably thought her a daughter of some man and his Japanese lover, that being the reason for her accent and ability to speak the Japanese language though primarily she mixed both cultures in her appearance.

"Sorry Kagome dear, we will try to be quiet. Run along now though, we were having a private discussion." Pearle smiled at Kagome, her pink-red lips pulled back to reveal her yellow teeth. Kagome smiled back at her politely, ready to head to the room they had spared for her.

"Kagome, don't you be eavesdropping anymore," Winton said angrily.

Kagome turned to look back at him, one hand on the rail and the other keeping her silk wrap around her shoulders. The balding man was furious for no reason she could pinpoint. She smiled at him in an attempt to calm his anger but that only seemed to infuriate him more.

"I wasn't eavesdropping. I just was woken by yelling and came to ask you to quiet down. I'm sorry if I gave you the impression that I was." Kagome smiled at them both again before climbing another stair step.

"You can't lie to me woman, I'm not at idiot."

Kagome heard Pearle trying to sooth her husband and when she turned her icy blue eyes back to them, she saw the woman stroking his thigh as she muttered a calming string of words. She attempted to run away again but Winton once more stopped her in her tracks with an angry shout.

"Whore! We don't sleep in the same houses as loose women."

Instantly Kagome's eyes were on her roommate, shock over his antagonism.

Pearle and Winton were nice enough, Pearle being the better mannered and nicer of the two. She liked both of them, even if they were wary of her at times. Pearle was kind, a little on the doting side of the fence while being a bit of an air-head at the same time. Her husband could be kind when he was sober, polite even, but his sobriety was always short lived. He was always quick to pop open another bottle of jack to drown away the stresses that came along with running one of the most successful newspaper printing companies in San Francisco. And when he was drunk, he was rude, he was volatile, he was violent, and he was crude. She didn't like the drunk Winton but she found herself dealing with him more than she wanted to.

"I am _not_ a 'loose woman'. I do not sleep around, unlike you of course," Kagome said out of instinct. Though she had no real problem with women who chose have sex out of wedlock, she wouldn't allow people to go and spread mistruth about her. Anyways, in this day and age, being called a loose woman was worse than death.

"Sure you don't, Japanese slut. Why don't you go marry Kiyoshi, the janitor? I hear he's got the least amount of diseases for a Japanese man. Also heard from one of the boys that he's decent sized for a Jappo," he said, using the English insult for the Japanese. Kagome narrowed her eyes at him. Had this been any other time and she knew that Winton wouldn't call the cops down here to lock her up, she walk down that, drop the wrap and sock him. He deserved it that was for sure.

She knew better than that though. She took a deep breath, shut her eyes and rubbed her temples. She wasn't picking her battles wisely.

"Stop sleeping with all the receptionists and maybe I'll take your advice."

Kagome turned away from her, ignoring the obscenities that he was shouting at her fleeting back as she returned to her room. Just go to bed, she told herself. She'd deal with the consequences of her actions that evening in the morning when Winton was sober.

She was going to have to leave soon though. She'd been here long enough as it was and she was definitely overstaying her welcome, if Winton's increasing antipathy towards her was any sign.

They were growing more and more suspicious of her by the day, probably thinking her to be the bank-robber making it big at the time. Or, as Winton had said, a prostitute. Either way, soon they would probably being calling the cops down here to arrest her.

She needed to scram, that was for sure but that wasn't something that had to be done right this instant. She could probably push it out a day or two before she needed to pack her bags and rip the space-time continuum again.

Anyways, if she scrammed now, she'd be risking the chance of not finding the one person she needed to find: Sesshōmaru.

She sighed at the thought of the demon lord with no sense of direction who was probably feeling like a fish out of water wherever he was. Shaking her head as the image of a Sesshōmaru-like fish flopping about on the sound as it was dying entered her mind. Great, she really didn't need to be thinking about such silly things but she was for some ungodly reason.

She crawled into bed after shedding the wrap in her chair, on top of the suitcase she had bought while in this time. She always needed something new to carry her luggage in when she travelled to another time. Just like clothes, people judged you for what object held said clothing in it.

She laid in bed a while, listening to the shouting start up again. It seemed that her roommates would not be letting her get her much needed beauty sleep. She hoped Pearle was okay, though when she caught her name jumbled in amongst the curses, she knew that the kind woman would be fine. She hadn't incited Winton's anger, Kagome had.

This was going to be a long night.

* * *

She drifted off to sleep at one point, probably much to the chagrin of her roommates after their shouting match that lasted into the wee hours of the morning, though it was much to her relief. She was wrapped up tightly in her blankets, head resting on her pillow as a soft snoring sound escaped her lips. Her black hair was wildly spread about, though it did frame her face nicely.

She dreamt. She dreamt about puppies, about Buyo, about her family and her friends, and finally her last dream recreated the scenario when she first opened a portal through time willingly and it sucked her and Sesshōmaru into it, sending them into two entirely different times and places.

_She notched the arrow, aiming it at nowhere in particular. A witch Naraku had ordered to kill her had told her that the power contained inside her was far more than that of a miko. As a time traveler, she had power over time itself. Of course the witch was defeated, nothing but a pile of goo on the ground._

_Now she was putting her so called powers to the test in the only way she knew how._

_Kagome closed her eyes, picturing a moment when her father was still alive and she was a little girl, playing hide and seek with him. She pictured herself darting around the Goshinboku as her father yelled something incomprehensible. She pictured the day in her head as well, her seventh birthday. _

_She smiled a small smile and let the arrow fly. _

_She quickly opened her eyes, just in time to see the arrow disappear into thin air as a large, blue whole opened up. Peering inside, it looked exactly like what she fell through when she jumped down the well. It seemed that she was literally jumping into time itself when she jumped down the well._

_Well, now all she had to do was go inside and she could see her father again. Smiling, she stepped closer, stopping when a pale, claw-tipped hand wrapped around her shoulder._

_"**What is that?**" _

_Kagome turned her head just enough so that she could catch the normally stoic demon lord out of the corner of her eye. His expression was stoic, those his eyes said that he was feeling a mixture of shock and slight intimidation. She hadn't realized that Sesshōmaru knew what fear was, unless it was in the form of his enemies fears._

_"A portal through time." She was tempted to ask him if he wanted to jump into it with her, knowing that his answer would be no. She didn't ask, even though she was certain. She didn't want to get the man's hopes up in case he really did want to go._

_"Where does it go?"_

_Kagome rolled her eyes at Sesshōmaru. Being cautious of a giant hole in time? What stupidity was that? Kagome sighed at her own, inner sarcasm but decided that she would be gracious enough to deign him with an answer._

_"Though I'm not certain, I'm pretty sure that it's supposed to take me back to my seventh birthday. If not, than maybe three thousand years ago to ancient Egypt." She chuckled at her own joke, feeling good about herself due to her success over opening a rip in time._

_"Ancient Egypt?" Sesshōmaru asked, oblivious to what she was talking about. Well didn't Kagome feel a little stupid now. She'd completely forgotten in her ego trip that this was feudal Japan and that history here involved Japan, and solely Japan._

_"It's a place a long time ago that you have never been and the only possible way to go there is through me. Though you probably don't want to because they worshipped cats and it was really hot."_

Sesshōmaru_ seemed to be distracted with his thoughts of Egypt, his grip slackening on her shoulder. Kagome inwardly sighed in relief. Now she could run off, have some fun, and see her father once again. Maybe if this worked, she'd go back in time to the day when her father died and stopped it from happening. _

_"Where are you going miko?"_

_Kagome stopped, a yard away from the portal. Really? He had to stop her that close from her past? She had a juicy list of names to call the stoic demon lord already lining up in her mind. Ass, prick, bastard, etc. The list went on and on, recalling every name she'd heard the teenage boys scream in the gym at school when the teacher's ear was turned away._

_"Through the portal." _

_She took another step forward, a brown leaf crunching beneath her shoe._

_"You shall not."_

_She spun around on her heel, glaring at him like a mother bear to the man who'd just touched her baby cub. _

_He dared to order her around?! She was not his subject. She was not his to control. He had no say over what happened in her life. If he thought he did have any say, she was about to correct him because he had it entirely wrong._

_"I will and there is nothing you can do about it."_

_Sesshōmaru didn't reply, hell, he wasn't even looking at her. Kagome glared at him, ready to stomp over there and slap him. Then she realized he was looking behind her at the portal, curiosity glimmering dully in the corner of his eyes._

_She turned around slowly, not knowing what to expect. Maybe there was a dinosaur poking it's head, looking down at her with its jaw open, preparing to make her its tasty lunch. Maybe there was a whole band of Native American warriors poking their heads in at the strange world surrounding just behind a magic doorway._

_That wasn't it was though. The blue background was now red and a slight sucking force came from the portal. Much to her surprise, and displeasure, the suction was growing stronger and stronger._

_It took her a few, precious moments to react and when she did, it was too late._

* * *

Kagome jerked herself from her slumber just as the dream her was sucked into the portal alongside Sesshōmaru and they were pulled in two separate directions, ripping her from the prince of the West.

Sighing, a low, melodious laugh tumbled from her lips as the palm of her hand hit her forehead. It wasn't the exact definition of a nightmare but the amount of energy it drained from her, the dream she just had was right on par or even superior to the common nightmare. At least with the common nightmare she could laugh it off and leave it in the dust but her dream had been a recalling of events that actually happened and of things that were still heavily affecting her now.

She slowly pulled herself from her comfortable bed, a little sad to see it go. She dressed, she pulled the wrap around her shoulders again and headed downstairs to brave Winton and Pearle for perhaps their final farewell.

She tucked away her nightgown in her suitcase, latched it shut and smiled. Yes, this would be her final day in 1920's San Francesco. She hadn't found Sesshōmaru here as of yet and she highly doubted she would so it was time to move on.

**Thank you for reading! I would definitely appreciate if you could drop me a review, they mean a lot and can be very inspirational.**


	2. Arrow for You, Arrow for

**Done for CiaraFael's Songs of the Decade's Challenge: You're the Cream in my Coffee by Annette Hanshaw. I don't own nor claim to own any copyrights to the song. This chapter is also dedicated to all of the reviewers, though jazzymay377 in particular.**

**Chapter Two:**

There was a small smile on Kagome's lips as she backed into the door, shutting herself away from Pearle and Winton. Though no one had said anything about the events the night before, everyone remembered what happened and they all knew it was one of the deciding factors in Kagome's departure. Though they got teary eyed, said they loved her like a daughter, and hugged each other tightly, at the end of the day all of them had wanted this goodbye. Both sides realized that, for the better, it was time for Kagome to move on.

Kagome bit her lip, nodding her head slightly. The goodbye was good, fantastic even. Everyone smiled, they reminisced over her short time here, and she even managed to get them to open up about their plans for the future. She congratulated them when they announced that Pearle was pregnant, and she encouraged Winton when he said he was going to get help with his addiction. Overall, even if this stop hadn't panned out in her search for Sesshōmaru, she definitely changed a couple lives for the better.

She walked away from the door, her smile returned. She pulled out clothing she'd bought in this era, only leaving a couple pieces in the bag as she thought of where she would end up next. Pearle could have the clothing she left behind, she knew the older woman would enjoy them.

Her little holes in time often dropped her off in places that, while remote, were close enough to civilizations so that she wouldn't starve or dehydrate. She'd never been dropped directly into a village but she had been dropped in places that were pretty remote, some to the point she wondered if she'd make it out alive. Luckily she did, though they were always a close call.

She pulled out a wooden necklace of wooden beads and smiled. She attained this little treasure in India where she had met a very handsome man and despite the language, he seemed to have fallen for her. She would've stayed there had it not been for the fact she was not bound by her search for Sesshōmaru and her overall quest to destroy Naraku. Damn shame too, he was so progressive for his time period and he treated her like royalty, though was probably due to the fact he _was_ royalty. This necklace had been his final gift to her when she managed to communicate to him through very bad Indian that she had to go. He gave it to her for her to remember him by and should she ever return, she could march right through the palace walls and be herald as a noblewoman. She sighed dreamily, draping it around her neck.

Kagome smiled as her task was finally done. She had turned the maroon wrap she'd been wearing for the entirety of her time in San Francisco into a sack that carried the few items she deemed worthy of bringing with her. As she set herself in the correct mindset, Kagome marched over to the comfy bed she would regretfully not be seeing again ever and grabbed from underneath it her bow and arrows. Two arrows actually. Wherever Kagome went next, she'd needed to pick up some arrows.

She stood, shoulders square, eyes burning with determination. Mind cleared, the arrow came to be beside the bow. She steadied her slightly shaking hands, watched the portion of space she was shooting at intently, and released.

The arrow shot across the room like a rocket, disappearing into thin air just before it hit the door. It only took a millisecond for the portal to open and the familiar sight of dark red and white stars to greet her eyes. She smiled at her triumph and marched into the portal, quelling the building nervousness over where she'd be thrown to next.

After the first hole she'd made, all of them had been red in color. She didn't know why, she just knew that the once comforting blue background with white stars would seem foreign to her senses after this. The red background, though at first seeming harsh, now looked appeasing to her and it meant escape from whatever time she was in now. So, she let the red engulf her, let it swallow her whole as she knew that this would be the calm before the storm of wherever she landed next.

* * *

Her feet hit the ground with a thud and instantly she opened her eyes. That hadn't been that smart a move. Sand and wind buffeted her, stinging her eyes as she attempted to take in her surroundings. She quickly shut them, desiring not to go blind after this. This was odd though. She'd never been dropped off in a desert before, not even when she had been dropped off in India. Always she was dropped off somewhere near society but still habitable like a forest or oasis. This was certainly not one of those.

She tried to pull herself to her feet. Kagome failed miserably though. Wind blasted against her side, making it impossible for her to stand for long. She found herself tumbling back to earth, the hard ground sending daggers through her body. That was going to bruise. Damn it, she needed to get out of here.

Realizing that standing in this weather was out of the question, Kagome pushed herself onto her hands and knees. Despite how degrading it would feel, she would have to crawl around. Staying there would not be an option. She'd be buried by the sand already piling around her. Kagome just hoped that she wouldn't crawl of the side of a cliff for she couldn't see anything.

She crawled for what seemed like an eternity. She was pounded on by the wind, her eyes stung every time she tried to open them when the sand felt like it wasn't pelting her so hard. The sand stung as it lashed out at her, feeling like tiny little whips every time it hit her. She was parched, her throat burning. She hadn't found water, she didn't have water. Her stomach growled with nearly every movement her body made. Food was what she wanted, what she needed in that moment as well, but it wasn't anywhere. She was going to die. Kagome seriously was if she stayed here any longer. Her search for Sesshōmaru be damned, there was no possible way she was going to find him if she was dead.

Sesshōmaru was a pain in her ass. He was like stale cream she'd found in her fridge, didn't check the expiration date, and used in her coffee. Why she felt so honor bound to find his frigid ass, she knew not, but she knew that she'd gone this far and there was no going back to the Sengoku era. She either found him, or she settled down somewhere unfamiliar to her. Honestly, she'd had her chance for that last one too and turned it down.

With resolve eating at her insides, Kagome sat down where she was, her ankles digging into her rear. It was an uncomfortable position she found herself in but she didn't bother to change it at she pulled around her pack, blindly fumbling to get it open to retrieve her last arrow. She grabbed it out, holding onto it so tightly she was surprised that it didn't break. She pulled her bow around her head, gripping it tightly too as she swung her back over her shoulder.

She cracked open her eyes, instantly wanting to close them as sand endeavored to blind her once more. She wasn't going to let it though, and regardless of how much damage she was probably causing to herself now, Kagome needed to see what she was doing to align the arrow.

She held onto the arrow, aligning the tip with the bow. In and out, she told herself as she attempted to calm her jagged breathing. Relaxing was what she needed to do. If she couldn't relax then she was going to mess this up and then it was over. Kagome was going to die if she messed this up. Everything she'd worked for and done would be for naught if she couldn't open up another portal. Sesshōmaru would remain missing and Naraku would probably end up winning back home if he hadn't already. With one deep breath, she closed her eyes and let the arrow fly from her shaking grasp.

Then she heard it. She heard the clattering of her arrow against the dehydrated earth.

She opened her eyes, attempting find the arrow and failing miserably. The storm had swallowed it up, not leaving behind the one thing she needed most. That had been her last arrow it was wasted. It was over. Everything she'd done, for naught.

Kagome cried out, her scream slicing through the raging wind booming around her. No one was there to help her in this instance. There was no more jumping through time. Inuyasha, Sango, Miroku, Shippo, Sesshōmaru, they were dead to her now as she was dead to them.

She really was useless wasn't she? Without an arrow, she was dead, even if her heart still beat.

She crumpled to her knees. Kagome let the bow slip from her fingers. Her death was assured. There was no one to save her, no Inuyasha to call out to. Her arrow was gone, and the storm pummeling her wasn't lifting up.

And she gave up. She found herself falling to earth with a thud. The bow dug into her side but she didn't care. She just let the darkness of exhaustion swallow her whole, knowing that she wouldn't awake this time.

* * *

Kagome didn't open her eyes when she heard gruff, male voices. She didn't dare. She was awake though, not dead. She didn't know what would happen if she opened her eyes but she swore that it wouldn't be good. The gruff male voices didn't sound pleasant at all as they checked her out, or rather her stuff out. These must've been traders or thieves.

"Poor thing," she heard one deep, gravelly voice say. "She's so close. It's a shame she didn't make it.

"It ain't surprisin' though," she heard another one say farther away. "Look at this shit, it's really nice."

She heard the sound thuds near her ear, but when the second one had said that, she heard them disappear. They were definitely here to make a profit, she could tell even if she didn't understand the language they spoke. She wondered momentarily that if she stirred, revealing that she was alive, what would they do to her? She could smell had badly they stunk, and she heard them shifting through stuff. Perhaps these men would just kill her, perhaps having a little 'fun' along the way or maybe they'd just sell her.

"Look at this bow," she heard the second man say as he tugged the bow out from underneath her limp body. She had to bite her lip to keep herself from crying out as her body rolled over onto her stomach. She could taste sand in her mouth. Oh how she wanted to spit it out but couldn't.

"Nice enough quality, I guess. Strange design though. Doubt anyone in the military would want it. We could get some gold off a trader though, maybe a rich collector if we went to the Capitol," said the first man. Kagome imagined him taking the bow that had been used as her transportation device out of a pair hands that belonged to the second man, turning it over in his palms as he observed it. "What else did this bitch have?"

"Odd clothing," she heard the first man say as she heard him throw the bag she'd had with her onto the ground. "Not worth much. Best taking them to the Capitol, a trader there might know a little more about them or some royal tailor might want them. Not worth much in the eyes of common people though. Wouldn't be good for working in."

She heard one of them, the one she assumed to be the first, pick up her bag of stuff again, looking through it. She heard him ruffling through though clothing and heard the crinkling of her paper materials.

"Foreign writing, looks kinda like the China shit. Bet she's a lost Roman slave?" said the second man. Kagome wondered if they were talking about her language.

"I'm gonna take a look at her. See if she's got anything of value on her," she heard the first man say. As she heard his footsteps draw near, she did her best to breathe as little as possible in the most discreet of manner. She should've probably been asking them to help her, though they wouldn't understand, but she was scared of these men. They sounded, just from their tone a lone, like they were there for profit. Profit normally didn't equal good things if they were robbing the dead. Selling a woman into slavery probably wouldn't even faze their moral standing.

She felt herself being rolled over and heard a sudden gasp.

"She's alive!" came the gravelly voice of the first man.

She felt harsh hands on her face, grabbing her, obviously looking her over as if she were a piece of meat. Kagome opened her eyes. The first thing she saw after her near death experience were dark, nearly black, eyes and a shit-eating grin. She jerked her face away from his hand, attempting to escape from underneath him. He let her get away, much to her confusion. What was going on?

She knew why nearly instantaneously as she felt herself bumping into unshaven legs. She tilted her head up, only to be greeted by another smirk and more black eyes. She looked back to the first man, the one who'd revealed her. The clothing he wore was white, only gold jewelry accenting him. The clothing, she noted, looked like the ones she'd seen in history textbooks on ancient Egypt.

"Tie her up," she heard the first man say, jerking her from her confusion. She didn't know what he said but she got the message when she saw ropes binding her wrists together. Kagome attempted to jerk herself out of them but found that the rope was quite strong. As she had feared, it seemed that she really was going to be sold as a slave, at least that what her brain was telling her.

_Thanks Sesshōmaru_, she wanted to say. _Because I tried saving you, I'm going to live the rest of my life in servitude. Sesshōmaru, you really are like stale cream in my coffee._

"Come on girly, we've got to go," said the second man jerking her to her feet.

Sesshōmaru really was a pain in her rear.

**Thanks for reading, and I promise Sesshōmaru in the next chapter. Please review.**


	3. Slave to a Slave

**Done for CiaraFael's Songs of the Decades Challenge. The song was Five Foot Two, Blue Eyes by Cliff Edwards, something I own no rights to and have never claimed to do so.**

Cool liquid flooded her mouth as she greedily gulped down the water she'd been provided by the men. Despite the fact she could tell that their plans were less than savory, the water they provided her tasted like heaven and the scent of the meat they cooked wafting towards her made her want to kiss them. Hopefully, they wouldn't ask for that just so she could eat. Still, she'd probably do it. She definitely would if her grumbling stomach had its way.

Kagome took a deep breath, pulling away the water container from her lips. She longingly stared at its opening, wanting to put it back to her lips and drink some more but she didn't dare. Kagome didn't want to garner the anger of the thieves, fearing her fate if she did so. Gathering their anger would be easy if she drank all of the water in the container they'd handed her. Certainly it would leave her parched again if she did so. So, instead of gaining their anger, she resealed the water container and returned it to the first man.

He smiled at her as she did so, foreign words tumbling from his cracked lips. She liked the first man better than the pudgy second man. The second man was rough in the way he talked, eyeing her like a piece of meat quite often and frequently having his hands in places they weren't supposed to be. He was more of a pervert than Miroku, a feat not easily accomplished and not a desirable accomplishment. However, whenever she found his hands in inappropriate places, the first man would always warn him away in a harsh tone. She knew that it was just because she was goods to be sold, and she would probably be sold to a man who wanted her for her untouched body, but she was thankful any time he did this.

Kagome sat down beside the first man who was busy turning over the meat to let the campfire lap at the undercooked top of the meat. The second man was busying himself with checking out the goods she'd come with. Multiple times she'd found them puzzling over her clothing, and often times she would find herself turning bright red as they tried to figure out her lingerie. Though she'd always managed to duck out of showing them what they were by communicating with her body that the language barrier prevented her from knowing what they were saying, she knew that they wanted her to show them the purpose of her underwear.

"Here you go," she heard the first man say as he handed her a hunk of heated meat. As it was unceremoniously dropped into her lap, she hissed as it came in contact with the bare skin of her legs. They'd made her change into something more befitting of the time period and her position within it, something that revealed more than she wanted. She picked up the meat from her lap, biting down on her lower lip hard as it burned the tips of her fingers.

"So where we gonna sell this crap?" she heard the second man say. She blew on the meat, trying to cool it though she listened with half and ear and kept glancing upwards. Regardless of the language barrier, she could guess some of the things they were saying from their body motions of the tones of their voices. They didn't need to know that though.

"The Capitol. The girl'll rack in quite a bit of money if we find the right buyer. She's too exotic and pretty not to. The other stuff will bring in more at the Capitol as well. No one 's gonna have seen it before so they'll be clamoring to own it," said the first man in a calm tone. The second man glanced to Kagome as she bit into the meat, locking eyes with him.

"Yeah, those blue eyes will rack in some gold. She's pretty short though, don't know how many people 'll want her for working purposes." The second man continued to look her over as she slowly chewed on the meat, curiously watching him. She felt the stare of the second man as well, though she didn't look over to see if her instincts were right. She knew they were talking about her, perhaps about how much she'd bring in for them.

"We'll market her as delicate and say that she's there for pleasure and the eye, or if they really want her for practical use, she's something to work around the home. That'll take care of the fact she can't speak the language and how meek she is." Said the first one, still calm as ever. Kagome had understood nearly from the moment she'd started travelling with these two that the first one was the rational thinker that led the two men and that the second man was the one that did most of the grunt work and also attempted to scare any people who got in their way with a tough guy act.

"Alright, let's get moving," the second man said as she finished the meat handed to her. The first man eased himself to his feet with a loud groan, stretching his arms. He bent down, grabbing the water and handing it to Kagome. She quickly gulped down a little and handed it back. He took it, attached it to his waist and jerked on the ropes attached to her bindings.

"You better bring us in a lot of money, little one."

She didn't know what he said, but whatever it was, she wasn't sure if she wanted to know.

* * *

Their travel to the Capitol took four nights and five days. They stopped in only one town along the way, much to her chagrin. The people who lived in that town came out from the fields and out of their homes to stare at her, probably remarking on the paleness of her skin in contrast with theirs' and the odd shade of her eyes. She felt like a tender piece of meat thrown before dogs who were barely constrained by a command. As with dogs, some approached despite the command to stay away though they were shooed off even after what Kagome considered a good sum of money was offered.

They travelled during the day, the blazing orange sun beating down on them. Kagome was certain that by the time they reached the Capitol, she would be redder than a tomato due to sunburn. Though with sweat on her brow, she'd continued on. She didn't run, knowing that it would be a foolish endeavor. Running would just lead to death, or perhaps for crueler men to find her on the desert floor as she neared death.

At night, they'd stop, eat and rest. She'd greedily gulp down water that they'd kept out of her hands all day and eat meat like she hadn't seen food in weeks. Then, she'd zonk out on the hard ground, a chill settling in her bones as the desert air went from one-hundred and seven degrees to sixty-three. Night would pass, and then they'd start the cycle all over again.

* * *

Kagome knew that they had arrived in the Capitol when she saw the giant statues surrounding the gate. Guards stood at the ready, weapons in hand as their eyes impassively took in everything that approached. The men leading her bowed slightly to the guards, said a couple words, and handed them a couple pieces of what appeared to be tree bark. _Papyrus_, Kagome reminded herself.

Once they stepped in past the guards, she found the bottoms of her bare feet touching burning stone. She hissed, which only got her a glare from the pudgy second man. People moved around her, their dark skin and black hair steep contrasts to the yellow and orange sand. They wore whites and gold, while other colors were sparsely scattered among the people. They chatted in languages she didn't understand as they looked at goods for sale.

Traders milled about, their stalls full of foreign silks and goods. The traders themselves were not all Egyptian. She saw fair-skinned men with different colored hair, though she saw no one of Asian descent. She was disappointed to see that there wasn't anyone who came from anywhere near Japan.

Quickly something else caught her eye. Yōkai. They were everywhere, some even resembling Egyptian gods. Men and women with vibrant colored hair and skin milled around, proudly displaying their yōkai heritage, though always behind or beside humans. _They must've been slaves, _she decided after see the glares that the yōkai gave their human counterparts. She also observed another thing amongst the yōkai.

They all had some form of jade on them.

That puzzled her. Was jade a naturally growing thing here? She knew that China was famous for Jade, especially during these early stages in history. Perhaps they came from Roman traders who'd visited China. Of course, she assumed the jade was used to subject the yōkai. She saw no humans wearing it so it was a safe guess.

Kagome hadn't realized she'd paused as she observed the yōkai until she felt a particularly rough jerk on her bindings. She stumbled forward, barely saving herself from end up face first on the ground. People stopped around them to look at the odd looking woman but she paid them little heed. Kagome glared up at the men leading her who returned her angered glare. They gave another harsh jerk, a snicker coming from the second man. She righted herself, teeth gritted as she walked behind them. She pinned the onlookers with glares as well.

_Didn't they know it was rude to stare? _she thought in a bout of anger.

Kagome was led through the crowd, the sounds of a man shouting out growing louder. They were leading her to slave auctions she realized. She looked around hurriedly to see who was milling about in this area. Many men, though they really weren't paying too much attention to her.

She craned her head to the right, attempting to spot more of the crowd of potential buyers. Mostly men with expressionless faces who observed the men and women being jerked along carefully, sizing them up as if they were a threat. She bristled every time she noticed a new set of eyes on her. Most continued on with their browsing, their eyes lingering on her only for a few seconds. She hoped it was just because she wasn't very desirable in their eyes, not that they'd instantly decided to go for her. These men sizing her up looked mean, all of them with their own gaggle of slaves crowding around them with down cast eyes.

Then she noticed one particular buyer.

There was nothing spectacular about him. His face was just as blank as the rest, and his eyes raced over the pickings like all the others. He had the sane black hair and tanned skin as the other humans here. Nothing too remarkable. Well, that was if you didn't take into account the slaves surrounding him. Actually, just one individual slave that stood out to her.

_"Sesshōmaru!_"

Gold clashed with blue as he looked up upon someone saying his name. She knew that eyes were on her now, not just Sesshōmaru's. The man he stood behind seemed to notice that after Kagome had screamed, she'd garnered the attention of the daiyōkai. She saw the buyer's lips move, though the words were lost to her over the roar of the other people who were back to paying her little heed.

Her feet trudged slowly, eyes still locked on Sesshōmaru. She could tell that the men leading her were pissed at her actions, that they were annoyed she'd reaped so much negative attention from potential buyers. However, she needed to see the daiyōkai she'd gone through so much for. He was here, she'd was this close to him yet he like he was ages away from her.

She watched as Sesshōmaru's lips moved and the man who'd enslaved him replied back. Were they discussing her? Could Sesshōmaru convince his master, a title she wanted to cringe over, that she was worth the gold?

Perhaps not. They were growing father and father away.

Just as the men were about to approach one of the men overseeing the auctions, they were approached by Sesshōmaru's master and the gaggle of slaves that followed him.

Sesshōmaru was so close to her. She could practically touch him, something she was quite tempted to do. Though she restrained herself under the weight of his glare. She didn't know why he was angry at her, though she had an idea as of why. Kagome couldn't bring herself to really care though. Sesshōmaru was standing before her, the man she had searched for for what felt like centuries.

"How much," she heard his master bark. The two men who'd captured her exchanged glances, grinning ear to ear.

"One-hundred twenty gold pieces and she's yours."

"One-hundred," said the potential buyer. Damn it, whatever price he was trying to get them to sell her at was not making them happy.

"One-fifteen and you tell us what you're gonna use her for. We'll go no lower."

Sesshōmaru's master approached her, studying her up and down. She attempted to not bristle as he looked her over, eyeing her from head to toe, his eyes linger somewhere she wasn't too thrilled with. Kagome felt his fingers harshly clamp down on her cheeks, turning her head side to side to get a better look at her. Her neck hurt as he did that but she didn't let it show. She needed to seem not as weak as she looked.

"Those blue eyes _are_ pretty, though she looks mighty weak. She's quite short as well. Hmm…" She'd like the sound of the first part he said, though she wasn't very sure of the second portion. "She worth it though, Sesshōmaru?"

"As much as they ask for," she heard the daiyōkai reply. Though she didn't understand the meaning of his heavily accented words, she liked the tone his baritone voice implied.

"Alright then, we'll take her for one hundred and fifteen gold pieces. And, though I don't see much use in her, I'm buying her for him. Gotta reward the good ones if you want to keep them good."

Kagome let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding as the men who'd captured her let go of her ropes, throwing them to the man who'd bought her. Despite the fact she was now his property, something he owned, she couldn't be happier to get away from the men who'd captured her even if meant running away into the grasps of a new owner.

The rope was handed to Sesshōmaru, much to her surprise, as her new master dug out gold to hand over in compensation for her. She quickly rushed to his side, earning a chuckle from the men currently preoccupied by the deal they'd struck.

She paid them little heed, though she heard them make a remark out of amusement. Something along the lines of _she knows her place without even being told it._

"Sesshōmaru, I'm so glad to see you," she said in relief as she stood beside him. He looked down at her, his golden gaze as sharp and cold as ever. She felt slightly nervous under the weight of his stare, though she didn't appear it on the outside.

"You are a pain miko," was all he said before looking away. Kagome bit her lip, knowing it best not to do anything too rash while the deal was still fresh. The men her new owner had bought her from were still present and the deal could easily be reversed.

However, as they walked away, Sesshōmaru behind their new master and Kagome huddled tightly to his side, Kagome knew that the deal would not be reversed. She was now a slave and Sesshōmaru, the man this stupid journey had started over was right beside her, a jade necklace wrapped around his neck and the rope that bound her hands in his own. Just like her fate had been mere minutes before, and though not to her knowledge, would be for as long as they remained in Egypt.

**Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it. Reviews are always wonderful things that tell me quite a bit about whether you enjoyed it or not and I would really appreciated if you could drop me one. **


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